Death Cannot Part
by Roherwen
Summary: even death cannot overcome true love. DN [Standalone]


A/N: this is something that popped into my head, don't ask me why, and I decided to publish it. This is dedicated to my brother who died eight years ago today.

Disclaimer: the character, places, exc. Are Tamora Pierce's.

Centered italics are flashback

**Death Cannot Part**

Daine Sarrasri lay on her bed in silence. Her health had been declining for weeks, and now her life was on its final stretch. She knew she should be anxious, but somehow she just could not manage it. She reached for something beside her, something that had been absent for many years now.

_Daine knelt beside her husband's bed. "Numair" She whispered, wiping his sweaty head with a damp cloth. "Darling, wake up." He blinked at her. _

"_Daine" She smiled at his voice. In all the years it had lost none of its warmth. He reached up to touch her cheek. "You need to rest." She had been up the entire night before caring for him. He was sick, very sick. They looked into each other's eyes. They both understood. They both knew it was only a matter of time. _

_He had endured a long life, longer than most, and together they had lived though many joyous times. She had hardly noticed when his raven hair turned to silver, and when his once smooth skin became filled by so many creases. She new the same had occurred to her, though he had never mentioned it. They went on loving each other, in a love that delved deeper than skin and hair, a love that burned and consumed their hearts, a love that bound faster than the strongest magic. _

_Their connection was broken by his coughing spasm. She frowned at him. "I'll get the healer." _

"_No" He stopped her. "I don't want the last moments of my life to be filled with healers."_

"_Don't talk like that." She whispered. _

"_Sweet…" She rested her head against him. "The Black God is coming for me. Please, I just want to be with you. When I'm gone Daine, don't remember this time. Don't think of me as the inhabitant of this broken body. I want you to remember the day we met, when I was a shape-shifted hawk. I want you to recall our first kiss, our wedding, the births of our children. "_

"_I don't want to lose you." She cried. He stroked her back. _

"_You won't ever loose me. I'll always be with you, even if I'm not here physically. And someday, love, we will be together again. Someday, but I have to go now. _

_She pushed back against him so that she could see his face one last time. So that she could see those eyes shine with the connection that the years had created. She touched his face, longing to memorize the feel of his skin, his hair, the sound of his voice, even though they were already inscribed in her heart. Tears poured down her cheeks. He attempted to reach up and brush them away, but he was too weak to reach her. Instead she clasped the fingers in her own. His hands, which had once been so full and strong against her body, were now so thin and boney. "Daine, I have to go. Magelet, I love you."_

_His eyes were darkening over as he spoke. "Numair!" She cried grasping his shoulders. "Numair!" She screamed, by now she was shaking those frail shoulders, with tears coating her face, dripping from her nose and lashes. She rested her forehead onto his chest, which no longer rose and fell with the passing of his breath. She rested her cheek on it, where it had laid for years. She had fallen asleep to the steady pounding of his heart, but now it was silent. He was gone. "Numair" she whispered. "I love you too." Her son, Rikash, had found her there an hour later, whispering repeatedly "I love you" to the still body of his father. _

The memory of that day burned vividly. For years it had brought her tears and agony. She had tried to heed him, she had tried to forget it, but how could she? Now that same memory brought her comfort in a dark time. She would join him soon. They would be together again.

"Ma?" She turned her head to see her daughter, Sarra standing in the doorway. "How are you doing?"

"Not much better." She admitted reluctantly, "but I'll be alright." Her mind was still on the memory

"You are thinking of Da, aren't you?" She asked. Daine nodded. She saw sorrow in her daughter's brown eyes. He had missed so much of her life. She had left her career as a rider to marry, and last year her third child had been born.

Then there was their son, Rikash. That mage will never settle down. She grinned to herself. He reminded her so much of another mage she had known. Rikash was not nearly as tall as his father, but he had his black hair and his unquenchable thirst for learning.

_I'll miss them both. I'll miss them so much. But at least I will be able to see them, to follow their lives. I will be lost to them, but their lives will go on, just as mine did without Numair. _It hurt her to think of them suffering that same pain she had felt. _Loss is a part of life, and all that is lost will be recovered... someday. _

"I'm ready." Daine said, not to anyone in particular. "I'm ready to go." Now, she knew who she was peaking to. A Man stood before her. Except he was no man, a man could not be that tall or made all from shadow and darkness. Despite the ominous aura, Daine felt safe and comforted by him. Mortal fear was now behind her. "I'm ready."

She let him take her hand. From an aerial perspective she watched her daughter drop the glass of water she had been holding, and rush to her body's bedside. She wished her the comfort that only time would bring. She was a strong girl, with a strong spirit, she would be alright. The world around her was starting to blur, she closed her eyes and let herself drift, it was nice after all the pain she had felt. When she opened them, she was in a place she had never imagined.

At first she thought the Black god had taken her to the wrong place. It looked like her memory of the realm of the gods. Rich scenery unfolded before her, to match any person's fancy. The god touched her shoulder and then he was gone. She saw a man standing in his place. He had familiar curly brown hair, and smiling green eyes. She recognized something in those eyes. "Grandda?" She whispered.

"Daine!" he grinned, before grabbing her up into his arms. "I thought you would be joining your mother, and that man of hers."

She smiled. "I made that choice long ago." She looked over his shoulder. Familiar faces were filling up the space around them.

"Alanna? Onua? Jon? Thayet? He old friends were smiling at her, their faces looking more like they had when they first met, instead of the worn ones she had last seen them with. They each took turns hugging her, and welcoming her back. As she was hugging George she saw someone approach. The bearer of the face that had haunted her dreams for many years. The stress years had put on that face were gone. Grey hairs had once again turned sleek black. Muscles had filled out where sickness had had left empty. She approached him carefully. His eyes were filled with warmth and joy. She reached out to him, afraid, to touch him, afraid that it was not real, just another dream. His fingers were so close to hers.

"Magelet" that voice, that word, was all she needed. He scooped her into his arms; as she pressed her face to his neck. No words were needed between them; their language was deeper than that. She wanted to cry, to laugh, but he made the decision easy for her, he covered her mouth with his. They were lost in the feel of each other, a feeling they had been deprived of for too long. When they pulled back, he kept her hands, just as he had done so many years ago, when he had first proposed. "I've missed you so much." She whispered.

"I never left you Magelet."


End file.
